Inside the regional courthouse in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, three judges took just 20 minutes to hand down the 20-year sentence, which the 39-year-old director will serve in a maximum security prison.

Prosecutors had called for a 23-year sentence for Sentsov, a father of two who is known mostly for his 2011 film Gamer. His co-defendant, 26-year-old left-wing activist Alexander Kolchenko, was found guilty of involvement with a terrorist group and was sentenced to 10 years.

After the sentence was read, both men began singing the Ukrainian national anthem with defiant smiles across their faces.

Russian security services arrested Sentsov and Kolchenko last year after their protest of Russia's annexation of Crimea and the under-the-gun referendum that followed. Their alleged crimes included a plot to blow up a statue of Lenin in the Crimean capital, Simferopol, and setting fire to the local offices of pro-Russian political parties. They have vehemently denied the charges.

Human rights groups have decried the trial as "farcical" and "Stalinist."

"This whole trial was designed to send a message. It played into Russia’s propaganda war against Ukraine and was redolent of Stalinist-era show trials of dissidents," said Heather McGill, Eurasia researcher at Amnesty International.

The organization previously condemned Russia's handling of the case, saying allegations of torture of both the accused, as well as the prosecution's witnesses, bring its legitimacy into question. Sentsov told the court he was beaten, tortured and threatened with rape or murder to force him to confess after his arrest in May 2014. He never broke.

In a "final word" to the court last week, Sentsov lambasted the judges and challenged the legitimacy of Crimea's annexation by Russia. He also appealed to Russians during that speech, asking them stand up against their government as Ukrainians had done with the corrupt regime of deposed president Viktor Yanukovych last year.

"We also had a criminal regime, but we came out against it," he said. "They didn't want to listen to us — we beat on trash cans. They didn't want to see us — we set tires on fire. In the end, we won.

"The same thing will happen with you, sooner or later," Sentsov said. "I don't know what form it will take and I don't wish to see anyone suffer. I simply wish for you to no longer be governed by criminals."

News of the sentences set off a firestorm of criticism among Russian journalists and activists on Tuesday.

"That's it, in 20 minutes they handed down a strict sentence of 20-years. Here we have a Stalinist sentence!" tweeted Russian human rights activist Zoya Svetova.

"On the same day, Sentsov got 20 years and [Yevgeniya] Vasilyeva was granted early release. And we, as usual, will forget and, as usual, forgive," wrote blogger and photographer Mitya Aleshkovsky, referring an aide to Russia's former defense minister who received a five-year sentence for fraud but was granted parole on Tuesday.

Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs quickly called the sentences illegal, while President Petro Poroshenko tweeted his support to Sentsov, saying, "Stay strong, Oleg. One day those who organized this trial will find themselves in the dock."

Sentsov and Kolchenko are two of at least 12 other Ukrainians who have been detained in Russia on charges ranging from espionage to terrorism to murder.

Military pilot Nadiya Savchenko is also on trial in Russia. She stands accused of killing two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine last year.

Nadiya Savchenko, a former lieutenant in the Ukrainian military, appears at a hearing in Russia wearing a T-shirt adorned with the Ukrainian trident.

Image: Evgeny Feldman, Mashable

Savchenko, who was fighting with a volunteer battalion in eastern Ukraine last summer, maintains that she was kidnapped by separatists and smuggled to Russia. She and her lawyers insist she was detained an hour before the journalists' deaths.

Ukrainian and Western officials have described them as "political prisoners" and "hostages," and they have demanded Russia release them. Russia has denied allegations of them being political prisoners.

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